My Mad Hair Day

Written and illustrated by Nathalie Dion

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-511-3

44 pp.

Ages 3-6

September 2021

 

While many admire voluminous hair, Malie thinks her tangled mess of golden locks are a curse, especially when she tries to tame it. But, somehow, through a series of unfortunate events, Malie finds a way to appreciate the hair she has.

 

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Combing it or hiding it under her cap just doesn't work for Malie. However, as much as she'd like to hide away in her closet, her mother has other ideas, sending the child out on some errands.

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Contending with the wind that carries her billowing hair away and the rain that frizzes it out, Malie trudges through the town on her errands. Along the way, her hair gathers a menagerie of items as it bumps into them or as they fall into or choose to enter it. There are cupcakes, birds, a lamb, a grand piano and even a child on a tricycle.

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Overwhelmed by the burden of her tresses, Malie takes a much-needed time out in a park and awakens to a new appreciation of her hair, courtesy of the cache within.

 

From My Mad Hair Day by Nathalie Dion

Of course My Mad Hair Day is a little silly but it's based in a whole lot of reality for those with wildly curly hair, especially if it's also long. I see from her head shots online that author-illustrator Nathalie Dion too has lovely blonde curls and I suspect that she wrote this, her first picture book as author and illustrator, from personal experience. Like a tall tale, Nathalie Dion starts with a germ of reality, that of dealing with unmanageable hair, and blows it up to epic proportions, from the child just trying to comb her hair to absorbing the shock of a falling piano and a lamb confusing the curls for its mother. Then with her watercolour and digital art, Nathalie Dion bolsters that wackiness with extraordinary hair that monopolizes the scenes as it does Malie's life. (That one illustration, seen above, of Malie's mane extending the length of three houses is very telling.) I'll bet this is exactly what children with long curly hair appreciate each morning as they struggle to tame their locks, undoubtedly often throwing their hands up in defeat. 

But Nathalie Dion does not leave Malie defeated. She doesn't let her wallow in her copious hair and frazzle her into gloom. Instead, a "time-out" helps the child gain a fresh perspective on the marvel that is her hair and reach a new level of self-acceptance, something most of us need to learn for ourselves.

• • • • • • •

A French language edition, titled L'ébouriffée, has also been released this month from Dominique et compagnie.

Kimmy & Mike

Written by Dave Paddon

Illustrated by Lily Snowden-Fine

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917398

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

March 2021 

I'm sure siblings Kimmy and Mike have had some pretty extraordinary adventures on the sea but even I find it hard to believe how a simple fishing outing could become a round-the-world trip of danger and folly. But that's a tall tale for you. See what you believe in this narrative poem and tall tale from Newfoundland and Labrador's Dave Paddon.

It has often been said, and I can't disagree,

That there's no one as tough as our folk of the sea.

But two of the toughest, if the rights was known,

Were Kimmy and Mike, who lived in Belloram.

So begins the tale of Kimmy and Mike who go fishing on order from Mom to "Get something for the pot!" Unfortunately, their best fishing spot lands them only a few sculpins and kelp so they scull around the Gulf and the Straits and elsewhere before deciding they need to cross the pond i.e., the Atlantic Ocean.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Not only do they cross the ocean, they pass through two hurricanes, declaring the 90-knot winds and 60-foot waves to be "a bit of a lop", and catch a small submarine and a squid with 60-foot arms and a 30-foot head. But, throwing both back, they head southward towards the Cape of Good Hope where they encounter a 100-mile iceberg which they cleave with an axe, before Kimmy fights off some pirates single-handedly.

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

Then there's the merman named Saul and a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii before their mother finds them. Having taken out their father's old punt, she's been doing her own fishing and intends to continue on, sending the twins home.

She said, "Get on home out of it, through the Panama Canal,

And make your father his tea–you know he's not well.

I'm just going to dart 'round Cape Horn while it's light

And stop into Rio for bingo tonight."

From Kimmy & Mike by Dave Paddon, illus. by Lily Snowden-Fine

The twins eventually make it back home, after a stop at the Galapagos and tunnelling beneath the Panama Canal, while their mother, having won a jackpot in Rio and salting and drying her plentiful catch, returns the next morning.

Readers will finish the rhyming story of Kimmy & Mike with a smile upon their faces, envisioning the twins' exploits and the extent of their travel. (This would be a fun geography lesson, especially when coupled with math to determine the probability of this all happening in one day.)  It could even become a ballad if set to music, with its rousing story, melodic nature of ups and downs, highs and lows, and big moments. Add a fiddle, an accordion and maybe an ugly stick and you got a kitchen party going. With this tall tale of fisherfolk, Dave Paddon takes us to Newfoundland and Labrador, to the people who have stories to tell, who use a language of their own (I had to look up several of the words like crousty, stage and sooky in the "Glossary" provided) and try to outdo each other with their tongue-in-cheek stories.

With Lily Snowden-Fine's gorgeous gouache artwork to complement Dave Paddon's story, though, Kimmy & Mike goes beyond just a folk tale. It may have the whimsy that is often associated with folk art but there is a refinement in Lily Snowden-Fine's lines and shapes that make each illustration a work of art, stark but refined, colourful and resonating with the spirit of the Newfoundland and Labrador. 

In the tradition of the recitations, which Dave Paddon discusses in his "Afterward," Kimmy & Mike's fishing adventure would win any kitchen storytelling contest, for its rhyme, plot and artwork. I only wonder what Kimmy and Mike, and their mother, will get up to next time because, you know, there will be another story to tell.

Dancing with Daisy

Written by Jan L. Coates

Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917206

44 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2019

Dancing with Daisy is a grandfather's story told to a grandchild intrigued by an album of old photos and memories. It's also a a fisherman's story so you know it might be a bit of a tall tale.

From Dancing with Daisy, text by Jan L. Coates, art by Josée Bisaillon

"Back in '62 it was, a frosty fall day." So begins this fisherman's tale of the onslaught of Hurricane Daisy as she "came roaring up the coast. She whirled and spun and whipped the waves into such a frenzy, they started leaping straight up onto the deck."

From Dancing with Daisy, text by Jan L. Coates, art by Josée Bisaillon

In true tall tale fashion, the grandfather exaggerates Daisy's impact as she  throws him onto an island and tugs and grabs at him to draw him into a dance. His wrinkles are the result of Daisy trying to bribe him with dollars that sliced into his skin and created scars. His arthritic hands came from clutching the branches of the tree and his blue veins resulted from her freezing cold breath. His raspy voice came from barking communications with a seal washed up on shore and he lost his hair when Daisy grabbed at his hair, playing "He loves me, he loves me not."

From Dancing with Daisy, text by Jan L. Coates, art by Josée Bisaillon

He returned to shore first on a handcrafted raft and then upon his own home's red roof, walking seven back-breaking miles before losing his teeth that ended up as icebergs. Daisy only abandoned her quest to dance with the man after "Nana went out and gave her a good talking to."

From Dancing with Daisy, text by Jan L. Coates, art by Josée Bisaillon

The grandfather undoubtedly remembers every detail of his harrowing assault on his fishing boat while besieged by Hurricane Daisy which tracked through the Maritimes in early October of 1962. It took six lives in Canada and smashed fishing boats, piers, and buildings with its rainfall and high winds. But the grandfather of Jan L. Coates's story protects his grandchild from the devastating truths of Daisy's impact and instead makes it into a tall tale that explains his aging, its own overwhelming trial, even ending with a good laugh.

Josée Bisaillon's art is a wonderful accompaniment to Jan L. Coates's story, taking readers to the Atlantic coast of colourful buildings, cold grey waters and tumultuous weather through her illustrations of watercolours, pastels, pencil and cut paper. Presenting the wind is a formidable task but Josée Bisaillon conveys movement and power in the water and the sky without restraint. It may be scary and mighty but it's still playful in its dance, and with the affectionate closeness of grandparent and child, Dancing with Daisy becomes more intergenerational tale, even if a little tall, than recall of a disaster.

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

Running the Goat Books & Broadsides shares a video of Jan L. Coates discussing her story and background for Dancing with Daisy on YouTube.

Uploaded to YouTube by Running the Goat on June 27, 2019.

My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts

Story and art by Torill Kove

National Film Board of Canada Collection

Firefly Books

978-1-77085-967-8

32 pp.

Ages 7-10

September, 2017

The National Film Board of Canada has been a part of Canada since 1939, impressing audiences, critics and award juries around the world for its entirety.  Films from documentaries to animations have delighted and now Firefly Books is partnering with the NFB to bring some of its stories to publication.  Starting next month, Firefly Books is launching the National Film Board of Canada Collection with the publication of two picture books including this one, My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts, based on the 1999 Oscar®-nominated NFB animated film of the same name.

Torill Kove recounts a story she'd heard from her grandmother, Aslang Bech of Norway, of her activities just before, during and prior to World War II in Oslo.  Though I have no doubts that Torill Kove’s grandmother, whose photo prefaces the story, truly ironed the King’s shirts, there is an air of a tall tale to her story of civil disobedience against the Nazis that may or may not be true.  I choose to believe it as it would be so satisfying if it were. Regardless of its veracity, the story is charming.

The book begins with a history lesson about Norway and the country’s decision to have a king lead them when it became an independent country.  Prince Carl of Denmark was selected and became King Haakon VII of Norway with Queen Maud and young Prince Olav in tow.  Though the family became proud Norwegians, embracing the people and culture readily, their wrinkled appearance had Norwegians shaking their heads.  So a clothing shop called Hoff agree to iron the royal family’s clothing, and years later this is the shop to which Torill Kove’s grandmother came to work.  A little investigative work led her to learn that she truly was ironing the King’s shirts.

From My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts 

by Torill Kove

All that changed when Norway was drawn into war against the Germans in 1940.  Proudly, the King refused to surrender and urged Norwegians to resist.  Now relegated to ironing the shirts of the German army, Torill Kove's grandmother began to sabotage their uniforms and encouraged the other Hoff pressers to do the same. “Word of their activities spread and soon all the shirt pressers in Norway were involved in a nationwide shirt sabotage.”

From My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts 

by  Torill Kove

Though history books may attribute the departure of the Germans in 1945 to Europe-wide capitulation, Torill Kove suggests they left because they had no undamaged clothes and fled in near-nakedness.  For this act of civil disobedience, her grandmother and others were decorated as resistance fighters.

From My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts 

by Torill Kove

Tall tale? Maybe.  Enthralling?  Absolutely!  Between the story details and Torill Kove’s illustrations, which are playful yet factual as seen by the accuracy of Torill Kove’s depiction of the King, My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts is a splendid side story that illuminates how a country outside of the the key players could withstand and triumph during World World II.  By keeping her tale absorbing while boisterous in colour and cartoon-like illustrations, Torill Kove tells history in a way that goes beyond both truth and tragedy, something few stories of WWII can achieve.

NFB  NFB  NFB  NFB  NFB  NFB

Do check out the animated short upon which this picture book is based at the NFB's channel on YouTube. The link is https://youtu.be/5LfJrv1_sZI